Gifts for Special People

Two very special colleagues at my school are retiring this year.  I have had several different ideas in mind for gifts for them, but could never really nail down exactly what I wanted to do.  Then I decided that something useful would be the best idea for them.  So I got busy on some Open Wide Zippered Pouches.  I made myself one last summer, and I have used it every time I have traveled ever since!  I hope they will like theirs just as much!

I'm slowly getting better at the zippers.  At first, I was very frustrated, and sure it was my zipper foot that was causing the trouble.  When I went to the Janome dealer in my area to see if he had a different zipper foot, he kindly suggested it might be my technique!  :)  So, home I went, to look for a YouTube video about sewing a zipper.  Sure enough, I found an idea that I tried and it helped.  I guess if I want to make a triple zip pouch, I'd better refine my technique!

I had fun choosing just the right text fabric for each of my friends.  I've been building my stash of text fabric for awhile, so I found just what I needed right on the shelf in my sewing room.

Made just for you, my friends!  With love.

A Scrappy Rainbow

Since January, I have been following along with Quilting is More Fun Than Housework's Scrap-a-Palooza series.  Scrappy quilts are my favorites these days, and I had noticed that Cyndy has a wonderful way of making her scrappy quilts look so "put together!"  I wanted that for mine!  So I decided to give one of her ideas a go.

January's project was bars of fabric cut out of chunks of your scraps in various widths, but all 5 inches high.  I pulled lots of fabric choices with the idea of making my bars in rainbow colors.  I was actually surprised at  how many scraps I had that would work for this purpose!  One of my favorite parts of making a quilt from scraps is finding bits of my favorite fabrics to include.  I love these stars, moons, and suns!

 

 

They went to gether to form this:

 



I have to admit I didn't have anything in my stash to make the sashing, so I hit Hobby Lobby last weekend and found a nice, neutral, cream-colored floral that worked nicely.  I cut my sashing at 5 inches wide also, so that I could get the size of the quilt top up to about 40 inches by 50 inches.  I think this will make a fun baby quilt for someone.  And if not a gift for someone, certainly a quilt I have enjoyed putting together, which is all I seem to  need these days!

Linking up this week with Sew Cute Tuesday and Needle and Thread Thursday.

Happy Sewing!
Diann

Can I just say?

That I Love. This. Quilt!  At the risk of overdoing it, I had to post about it one more time, probably because I just finished it and took it to our local sculpture park to take some photos.

The Charm Pack Cherry Quilt is a simple pattern that went together so quickly for me.  When I ordered the Color Me Happy fabric from Fat Quarter Shop, I didn't even really know what to expect in terms of color and how it would work with the Bella Solid White, but I really have loved it.  The different greens and navy seem so fresh and clean.  The occasional pop of pink is fun to see, and the gray every now and then gives it some calm as well.

I backed it in some navy and green polka dots from Hobby Lobby, and used that for the binding as well.  I am happy with how that frames the lighter colors of the top.

I really wanted to keep this quilt, but as soon as I started sewing on it, I knew it wasn't going to be for me.  Funny how that happened.  I have made quilts for everyone in my family: husband, sons, mom, MIL, sisters, and brother, but I have very seldom given away anything I have made to someone outside my immediate family.  But as soon as I started working on this quilt, a special friend kept coming to mind.  I went to work and told my teaching partner that I knew who I had to give this quilt to!  She even knew who I was talking about!

I love this quilt, but my friend needs a big hug right now, so I stitched lots of love into it, and will be so happy knowing this quilt is giving her a big hug everyday, as long as she needs it.

Quilting Like a Charm

I have been enjoying doing the quilting on my Charm Pack Cherry quilt this week.  I started by spray basting outside on the driveway.

I have always done this inside, down in my sewing room, in the past, but after reading a tutorial on Christa's blog where she says to spray baste outdoors, I decided I'd better try that.  The upside of doing it out on the driveway was having way more space, and getting Mr. LPQ to help me with the process!

I wanted to try a new stitch with my walking foot for quilting that I hadn't tried before.   I've seen several people doing a beautiful scallop sort of stitch that I've tried really hard to duplicate, but I don't think my machine has that stitch.  So, instead, I figured out a giant zigzag that I really like!  It's turning out like this:

Back in September, I got a big table from Ikea for my birthday to put my sewing machine on.  It has really been wonderful for quilting bigger quilts!

Another pic of my zigzag quilting!  The pink leaves are one of my favorite fabrics in this line.  I love the micro dots, too.

I am really happy with the navy and green polka dots I found for the backing.  I'm going to bind it in that, also.

I guess I'd better go get back to work!  Linking up to Sew Cute Tuesday and Needle and Thread Thursday.

Charm Pack Cherry Love

When I saw all the examples from other bloggers who were making this quilt, I knew I wanted to make one, too.  It definitely helped that Fat Quarter Shop was having a sale on their charm packs at the same time!  It wasn't long before my Moda Bella White and Color Me Happy charm packs came in the mail, and I got to work.  I  just love the result.  L.OV.E it!

I love the blues and greens with little touches of pink and gray that this fabric line has.  It gives the quilt such a fresh, clean look.  It's the first time I've worked with so much white, and I love that about this quilt, too.

I can't decide which fabric is my favorite.  There are many fun ones to look at up close:

 

 

For the backing and binding, I found a pretty navy blue with green polka dots at my local Hobby Lobby.  Can't wait to get back to work on it this coming weekend when it will be Spring Break!

 

Linking up with Blossom Heart Quilts for Sew Cute Tuesday and Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation.

 



 

 

Signs of Spring

Seen today in my garden:

 Crocuses!  Spring is on its way!

I've just been sewing in little bits and pieces recently.  A couple more Granny Square blocks...

 

 

This one might be my favorite:

 

 

 

I also started on a Charm Pack Cherry quilt.  I'm making it out of Moda's Bella White and Color Me Happy by V and Company, also for Moda.  And it is going to be a happy quilt, for sure!  So far, I just have the basic solid and print charms sewn together in groups of three.  Next step, make the nine patches and cut them up again!

 





There are lots of happy fabrics in this line:

 

 

I love those polka dots!  Looking forward to some more time to work on all my WiPs this weekend!

 

Today I'm linking up with Let's Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts, and tomorrow with Needle and Thread Thursday.

My First Pillow Cover!

Like most quilters, I have lots of WIPs to work on, but sometimes I just need a quick weekend project to fill my need to sew and create.  I have been wanting to try a pillow because there are so many out there on other people's blogs that I have loved looking at. Thanks to Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts, who was in a pillow-making frenzy a couple weeks ago, I decided it was time! We have had two really boring gray pillows sitting on our living room furniture for years.  They seemed like the perfect candidates for a makeover!  So I took some leftover charm squares that I had from this project, and made a simple patchwork front for my pillow.  I quilted it with straight(ish!) lines about 1/2 inch apart.  Then I made an envelope back for it from Amanda Jean's tutorial.  And voila!

So much prettier than those old gray pillows!  I wish I had saved the info that told what fabric this is, but unfortunately, I didn't.  Here is a close-up of my favorite one, though.

 

 

 

Guess I'd better get to work on a cover for the other pillow!

 

I am linking up to Sew Cute Tuesday with Blossom Heart Quilts and later in the week to Needle and Thread Thursday!